When I was little I loved tomato soup. My mother was a chef so you might think I was weaned on expertly crafted soup that she spent hours over. My mother had a weakness for tinned tomato soup however. As a child I would happily devour bowl after bowl of tomato soup. I developed quickly into a food snob and though I have been known to have a weakness for many low-brow foods I did leave my love of tomato soup from a can behind. As an adult I have eaten two tomato soups that I measure all others against. The first was from an Italian place in Brooklyn, before I was gluten-free or raw. It was an heirloom tomato soup with chunks of bread in it. The taste was fresh and light and it had the most dreamy chunky yet satiny texture. The second soup was from Bonobo's, also in NYC. This was a creamy dreamy raw vegan tomato soup with perfect little ribbons of basil. Since I moved to Arizona I have spent many a day wishing someone would airmail me that Bonobo's soup. Yesterday, while pulling orders at Vivapura it became clear to me that our Heirloom Sundried Tomatoes might be the key to my tomato soup longing. The Paninobobo Tomato Soup recipe is the perfect mix of what I loved about both of these soups. A quick side-track here...I use Thai Young Coconuts in this recipe. I've always been a sucker for these in recipes but as of late I have been avoiding them for the most part. The more I hear about them and the formaldehyde they are soaked in the less I wish to ingest them. Sometimes though they seem like the perfect thing for a recipe and I do use them. I'm just choosing to use them more sparingly than I did in the past. Onto the recipe!
Paninobobo Tomato Soup 2 cups Heirloom Sundried Tomatoes, soaked 1 hour 1 red pepper, chopped 2 thai young coconuts, water & meat 1 large tomato 1 lemon, juiced salt & pepper to taste 1/2 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped Put everything except basil into a high-speed blender. This recipe will fill it up so you might not need all of the coconut water. Blend until smooth. Add basil in and blend but just for a moment until the basil is well combined but leaving some bits. Garnish with nutritional flakes, sea lettuce flakes and Spirulina Crunchies. I like a hefty serving of kale chips alongside. If you have family or friends who liked something cooked with their raw my family enjoyed this with some Brown Rice pasta. Stay tuned tomorrow for a super yummy & quick superfood cookie recipe!!!